An article from the Hardcopy Observer, “Pitney Postage Plan Wins Approval, Escher Tries New Approach”, Jan. 2000 announces a technology that enhances the security of postage documents by forming a signature of the paper fiber over a localized region and then printing this signature elsewhere on the envelope in the form of wavy lines.
Since the image obtained from scanning paper fiber is random, it is very likely that no two envelopes ever have or ever will possess the same fiber structure. Therefore, every envelope may be considered to have a unique identifier and may be used to uniquely identify every letter. The technique requires that the fiber signature be printed and encoded as a series of wavy lines elsewhere on the envelope. How the fiber signature is distilled from the fibrous region is not disclosed. A significant advantage of this system is that it is unlikely that a counterfeiter would discover the process needed to duplicate this process. Simply copying the envelope is not sufficient because modern copiers do not copy the fibrous structure. The copier resolution is simply not high enough. By providing an information channel directly related to the unique aspects of the paper itself, the ability to counterfeit is minimized.
However, the technique described above has a significant shortcoming. The requirement is that the fibrous signature is used as the unique identifier. The fibrous signature relies on the construction of the paper base of the envelope. Other medium such as photographic paper, thermal transfer, and inkjet all have different surface characteristics. In some cases these media do not have a paper base or a paper base that is close to the surface where the fiber structure is available for scanning. These media generally have a receiver layer constructed using a polymeric material. The polymeric materials used to form the receiving layer cover the paper base obscuring the fibers. The fibers themselves are susceptible to damage from outside elements such as water, abrasion, etc. In addition the technique does not provide a separate record in the form of a digital file of the scan of the envelope's fiber or link that file back to the envelope.
Verification Technologies, Inc. discloses on their Website at http://www.netventure.com/vti/isis/main.htm a method for identifying valuable objects by capturing a unique series of microphotographs and a log of how they are collected. The microphotographs are then used to verify the authenticity of the objects.
In each of the cases cited the feature being scanned or photographed already exists as a part of the object. The features are not purposely created during the time of manufacture for the sole purpose of proving authenticity. Nor is any attempt made to artificially create the mark or produce a mark that is physically robust.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a high-resolution scan of the physical indicia identifier creating a unique digital representation of the physical indicia identifier.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cryptographically secure method for invisibly hiding (or embedding) a message derived using a texturally derived signature from the anomaly. In the case of printed image on the media, the need for a visible representation of the data to authenticate an image is eliminated.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a unique physical indicia identifier by embossing, etching or printing a pattern on the front or back surface of a media.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a high-resolution scan of the physical indicia identifier creating a unique digital representation of the physical indicia identifier.